roberts



No. 60,789. PBTENTED JAN. 1; 1867.

.1 c. ROBERTS. GRINDING MILL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 14 PATENTE'D JAN. 1, 1867.

J. G. ROBERTS. GRINDING MILL.

INVENTORi Wm: ESSES:

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JAMES J. ROBERTS, 0F ADAMSTOWN, MARYLAND; Letters Patent No. 60,789, dated January 1, 1867'. r

IMPROVEMENT m cambmeunas.

TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: Y 4 Be it known that I, JAMES C. ROBERTS, of Adamstown, in the county of Frederick, and State of Maryland,

. have invented certain new and useful improvements in Regulators for Grinding-Mills; and lfdo hereby declare the following to be a. full, clear, and exact descriptioniof the same,;reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-- Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the mechanism for regulating the stones, as also the feed of the mill.

-. Figure 2 represents a transverse section through the same ,with portions of the mechanism dotted in,'wl1ich would not otherwise a ear in the section.

l Figure '3 represents a section through a portion of the mechanism which will he hereafter more fully:

referred'to;

Similar letters of referencewhere they occur in the separate figures denote like parts of the apparatus in all the drawings. I v

My invention relates to a self-acting mechanism by which a grinding-mill is regulated soas to do uni-form work, whether the water of other power that drivesithe mill varies ornot. This mechanism is operated from .1. 1? moving part of the mill gear, and is actuated through'a governor which is sensitively afl'ected by every'change oi speedin the mill, and raises or lowers the runner, as well'asincreases or'ifliniinishes the feed; as may. be

required'for the qualityoi grain used,or the kindooffiourzorl mcalr-to be produc'ed.

To enable others: skilled in the art to make and use'my' invention, I will proceed to describe the same with reference to the drawings. i I

A represents a frame upon which the grinding ston'es or buhrs are placed. From a pulley, B, on" the spindle C of the runner, an endless belt, D, passes to and around a'pulley, E, on the goverhor-shaft,-F, and by which said shaftis driven.- The governor-shaft F, as also the regulatingmechanism which the governor controlsy'is placed one frame or stand, G, in any convenient position in the inill it is shown in the-drawings in close proximity to the grinding-stones, but may beplaced remote therefrom if so preferred. On the shaft, 1?,the're'is a bevel gear,- H, which works a similar gear, I, supported in the stand G by a shaft or journal, a, which turns with it. On the shaft or 'journal at there is a crank-wheel, 6,. in which a wrist-pime, is placed, and thiswrist-pin works in a slot, d, made in the lower end of a vibrating a'rni, J, that rocks'or moves on the shaft K. The shaft K has secured on it, near the vibrating arm J, a ratchet-wheel, L, with radial or ordinary cogte'eth upon its perime ter, so that a double pawl, or rather two pawls, e e,'may alternately work in it, as the case may be, so as to turn said ratchet, and of course the shaft K onwhich it is fastened. When one pawl is thrown into action, the opposite one is thrown'out, as will be hereafter explain ed. On the opposite end of the shaft K from the ratchet-wheel L, there is a bevel spur or pinion, M, that works into a bevel gear, N, the shaft of which is made into a nut to work on the screw rod 0 connected with the bridge-tree P, on which the spindle G is supported, the shaft of thebevel gear N being sup-- ported in a bracket, Q,-fastened to the stand G;

The bridge-tree rod 0, after passing through'the hub or nutof the bevel gear N, extends upward, and is connectedjat f to the short arm 9 of a beam, R, that is pivoted to? down-hanger, S, attached to the stand G1 On this beam R, a carriage, T, is caused to move in one direction or the other, as the case may be,fby a mechanism to be presently described, said carriage havingapoise or weight, U, suspended to it,"which weight is made capable (by the opening through it) of being addedto or taken from,'by movablepieces of metal laid in or takenfrom said opening. Towards the end of the beam most remote from its fulcra at S, a red, It, is attached, whichextends downward, its lower end being forked so as 'to straddle a groove made .inthe shaft K, the groove allowing the red It to freely move in a vertical direction, but preventing it from moving laterally. On tlrcrod 7i,

-bet.ween the beam B and shaft K, there is an arm, 2', adjustable thereon, butfastened after it is-adjusted said'arm' having a curved slot, J, in it, in which a crank, K, that rocks the two pawls e e", works, putting one or other into and out of action with the ratchet-wheel L, as the speed and feed of the mill may require to keep 'it at a uniform grade of flour. The extreme end of the beam R has a rodpl, connected-to it which extends upward, and is forked so as to straddle a screw-shaft, V, and be guided vertically and controlled laterally by said shaft.

- The upper end of the vibrating arm, J, has a segmental rack, in, made on it, which works into a'similar segment, n, on the bottom of awibrating arm, W, suspended to the shaft, V, so that it can move independent of the movement of said shaft. The vibrating arm, W, has pivoted toits upper end two pawls, o 0, one or' the other of which, as the case may be, is in action with a ratchet-wheel, X, fastened to the screw-shaft, V, and moves said shaft in the direction in which the pawl in action points.. These pawls, o o, are thrown in or out of action as follows; A crank, p, on the pawl-shaft projects into a curved slot, q, of an arm, r, that is adjustably connected to a rod, 3, which in turn is pivoted to a beam, Y, supported in a pillar, t, on the frame or stand, G. The end, a, of the bean 1, Y-,,is forked and straddles a collar or sleevc,"v, to which thelinksww of an ordinary fly ball governor, Z, are attached, so that the speed of the runner or movable stone of the pair, through its spindle, gives motion to the govcrnor-shaft. The governor-shaft by its motion gives motion to the governor, Z, and the raising or lowering of the governor arms raises or lowers the free end of the beam, Y, and the beam in turn raises or low ers the rod 3, and causes its arm, 1', to move the crank 12 and throw one of the pawls into action and the other out of action with the ratchet X, as the case may be, and change the motion of the screw-shaft V accordingly.

On the screw-shaft V there is a sleeve, :v, on which a lever,y, is pivoted, saidlever having on one of its ends a tooth, 1, that takes into the thread of the screw, and the other end of the lever may have a spring under it to hold said tooth to the screw,and yield when necessary to shift the sleeve x on the screw-shaft. From the lower side of the sleeve :2: a rod, z, projects downward, and enters a hole in the carriage, T, so that as the sleeve moves along on the shaft, to the right or to the left, as the direction in which the shaft for the time being is moved by the pawl which may be in action may determine, the carriage, T, and weight, U, suspended .to the carriage will move it on the beam, R; and that the beam may tip or yield to the weight as it is moved along on it, the rod connection 2 between the sleeve and the carriage must be such as not to prevent the beam from acting bythe counter, over, or under poise of the weight upon it. The moving of this weight on the beam, R, raises or lowers the rod 0, and the rod 0 raises or lowers the bridge-tree, P, which latter in turn raises'and lowers the runner or moving stone of the pair of grinding-stones, bringing it nearer to or moving it farther from the bed-stone, as the speed and feed of the mill may require to turn out the standard of flour or meal for which the mill is set or regulated,

and this, too, whether the'head of water or other motive power which drives the mill, falls or not, and without the attention of any one. The screw-shaft V works into a worm-wheel, 2, that is arranged on ascrew-shaft, 3, (see fig. 3,) and to this screw-shaft, 3, a lever, 4, (see fig. 2,) is connected, which has its fulcra at 5,'and has a tube, 6, at its end, which connects with the hopper tube 7, and with a common dish on the top of the runner spindle, so that the distance between the tube 6 and the dish (which latter is in common use) regulates the quantity of grain that is fed into the stones from the hopper. Thus the turning of the screw-shaft, V, which is regulated by the governor as to its direction, regulates the amount of feed or grain that is fed in to the stones. The governor,

is actuated by the speed of the runner, and thus through the governor the feed is made to correspond to the speed or motion of the runner. The runner, it will be observed, has two regulating devices-first, the weight on the beam works the bridge-tree, and the bridge-tree'raises or lowers the stone; and secondly, the bridge-tree may be raised and lowered by the shaft K, bevel pinion M, and screw gear N, when the beam tips so as to throw in one or the other of the pawls, e e or in other words, the mill may be setforrgrinding aparticnlar standard of flour early in the morning, when the head of water in the dam is high, and the speed and feed at their maximum. Now as the head of water falls and the speed becomes reduced, the feed is correspondingly reduced, so that the same quality of flour may be produced, though the quantity changes with the power that drives the stones.

When the mill has been set for the grade of fiour that is to be ground, it will run that grade so long as the power that drives the mill is unimpaired. But the moment, from any cause, the power or speed diminishes, then this regulating mechanism sets the runner and feed to continue that grade, but at the diminished speed and feed. And to notify the attendant when the runner and feed, one or both, have been adapted to the change of driving power, the bells 8,9, will he rung by the moving of one or both of the pawl-wheels, L X, as the case may be.

I have shown one'practical illustration of the operation of this self-actingregulating mechanism, but would state that I have myself made modifications of it, which, however, embrace the general characteristics of the invention. I do not, therefore, confine my invention to the arrangement of mechanism herein described and represented, as it may be used and arranged in many other forms and produce .the same eflect. The feed and set of a grinding-mill are increased and diminished, as at present arranged, by several causes, viz: by an increase of the head of water, or by throwing out of gear some of the machinery, which would give more power to the grinding-stones, and again by the decrease in the head of water, which is often caused by the rack choking up with leaves, or by the quantity of water in the dam being exhausted, or by throwing in additional gearing. My regulator compensates for any and all such causes, as well as for the expansion and contraction of the spindle or any changes in the motive power whether of water or steam.

Having thus shown how my invention may be used in connection with grinding-mills, and explained its object and characteristics, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

In combination with a governor operated from the mill-gear, a regulating mechanism operated through the intervention of a screw-shaft, a travelling poise and scale beam, and that will change and adapt both the feed and the set of the stones to the varying speed of the runner, caused'by changes in the motive power, and thus produce a uniform grade of flour or meal, substantially as described.

JAMES C. ROBERTS.

'i nesses:

JAS. S. Ronnn'rs, ELIAs SPALDING. 

